Definition of Tone
In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky employs a notably conversational tone. This tone, marked by digressions and even occasional apologies from the narrator, emphasizes the narrator’s role, as can be seen in the narrator’s introduction of Dmitri’s trial:
I will say beforehand, and say emphatically, that I am far from considering myself capable of recounting all that took place in court, not only with the proper fullness, but even in the proper order. I keep thinking that if one were to recall everything and explain everything as one ought, it would fill a whole book, even quite a large one. Therefore let no one lament if I tell only that which struck me personally and which I have especially remembered. I may have taken secondary things for the most important, and even overlooked the most prominent and necessary features.